Solo Mage Final Battle(s) Strategies
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 8:08 am
Spoiler warning: in the following post I will describe my strategies and exploits as a solo invoker mage (Invoker) for the two final battles, thus possibly spoiling your own fun in beating the game.
I was very frustrated when I took a lone mage right to the end, and not being able to beat Melissan even at her first appearance (knowing that I couldn’t rest). After deciding it was impossible alltogether, I inquired at this forum and someone (thank you very much) suggested usage of Wish, a powerful spell that I admit I underestimated (a thing that happens with a lot of spells in this game). So here’s how it proved to be possible after all.
Preparations: Robe of Vecna & Staff of the Magi (with the Spell Trap) & Potion of Wisdom (being intelligent didn’t mean I was very wise) were must-haves. I also took 2 Chain Contingency & 2 Time-Stops with me on scrolls.
With Wish as the key-spell - memorized before entering ‘the end’ & cast by a Project Image gulping a potion of Wisdom - I was able to memorize my spells over and over again.
The strategy I used in defeating Melissan was basically the same all four times she appeared.
0 Protect yourself from almost everything.
1 Summon one or two Planatars with a Project Image,
2 1 Pierce Magic, 2 Lower Res in a Trigger.
3 The first spell cast in combat (or if possible: right before combat) has to be the most powerful wizard-spell in my opinion: Improved Alacrity,
4 Fire the Trigger & a lot of Lower Res’s & Pierce Magics and the like at Melissan in a split second.
5 Hit her (and only her) with all you got (skull traps are very reliable, Wiltings (3 at once in a Chain Contingency can do a lot of damage), I even loaded a spell sequencer with 3 magic missiles for old time’s sake. Make sure you kill her before she can Heal herself (if she managed to heal herself twice I knew I had to reload & try again).
6 Don’t let your Planatars attack Melissan, they will go down much too fast. Keep them occupied with her summoned baddies and once in a while let them Heal themselves. Summon another if one perishes.
7 If you don’t mind being a coward (and in my opinion Wizards have the right to be just that) you may want to Skull Trap an area before combat with Sims and Project Images and try to lure Melissan into it.
If you use Skull Trap, always Protect yourself from Magical Energy, you will be immune that way (you may even cast that spell on the Planatars to keep them from being hurt by your Skulls and thus turning red on you).
As you may know, with the combination of Improved Alacrity (no time between spells) and Robe of Vecna you can cast low-casting-time-spells like Skulls and Lower Res’s immediately after one another.
The battle with the Fallen Solar and her companians was possibly even more difficult than Melissan herself was. I kept getting killed almost instantly the moment the Solar spotted me (spell immunity didn’t work. I think my saving throws were too low. if someone knows the exact reason please let me know). Then I discovered that the Solar, unlike Melissan, wasn’t immune to Time Stop, and in three consecutive Time-Stops (2 from scrolls) a wizard can do a lot of damage.
So: Just cast the next Time Stop right at the end of the previous Time Stop.
1 Load a Chain Contingency with 2 Lower Res’s and a Pierce Magic (See Enemy-Cast on Nearest Enemy)
2 Time Stop (from scroll), Improved Alacrity
3 Within the frozen time walk to the spot where the Solar is the ‘nearest enemy’, firing your ChainCont, Cast a trigger of Lower Res’s and Pierce Magic on Solar.
4 Cast 1 Lower Res on each Marileth (important to take them down). Don’t mind the Succubus and the Alu-Fiend.
5 Further lower the Solar’s magic resistance.
6 Cast Skull Traps and Wiltings right into the group during one or two Time Stops.
I also memorized & cast a second Improved Alacrity and loaded a new Chain Contingency from a scroll with three Wiltings. Mind that Improved Alacrity doesn’t work with casting from scrolls, so prevent wasting the short duration of the spell in that way.
With this strategy they should all be dead when the last Time Stop passes over, without even knowing what hit them.
The last fight in the Pocket Plane with the Ravager also proved to be a challenge. It seems to be immune to magic and it keeps summoning swords. Unable to breach its defenses for a full-scale magical attack, and not being able to use the Black Blade-Tenser combo (If I remember correctly he casts Remove Magic, leaving you Tensed without your Blade & unable to cast spells) and being pestered by them bone blades I had no other choice than to turn to the Wand of Cloudkill (ignores Magic Res) in combination with Energy Blades. With fifteen to twenty charges of the Wand and firing some 50 Energy Blades he was defeated. This only works if you summon a Planatar to take care of the summoned swords (A Death Spell doesn’t work on them) keeping himself Healed or out of reach of the Ravager. Mislead works very well in this battle because the Ravager can’t cast True Sight.
I was very frustrated when I took a lone mage right to the end, and not being able to beat Melissan even at her first appearance (knowing that I couldn’t rest). After deciding it was impossible alltogether, I inquired at this forum and someone (thank you very much) suggested usage of Wish, a powerful spell that I admit I underestimated (a thing that happens with a lot of spells in this game). So here’s how it proved to be possible after all.
Preparations: Robe of Vecna & Staff of the Magi (with the Spell Trap) & Potion of Wisdom (being intelligent didn’t mean I was very wise) were must-haves. I also took 2 Chain Contingency & 2 Time-Stops with me on scrolls.
With Wish as the key-spell - memorized before entering ‘the end’ & cast by a Project Image gulping a potion of Wisdom - I was able to memorize my spells over and over again.
The strategy I used in defeating Melissan was basically the same all four times she appeared.
0 Protect yourself from almost everything.
1 Summon one or two Planatars with a Project Image,
2 1 Pierce Magic, 2 Lower Res in a Trigger.
3 The first spell cast in combat (or if possible: right before combat) has to be the most powerful wizard-spell in my opinion: Improved Alacrity,
4 Fire the Trigger & a lot of Lower Res’s & Pierce Magics and the like at Melissan in a split second.
5 Hit her (and only her) with all you got (skull traps are very reliable, Wiltings (3 at once in a Chain Contingency can do a lot of damage), I even loaded a spell sequencer with 3 magic missiles for old time’s sake. Make sure you kill her before she can Heal herself (if she managed to heal herself twice I knew I had to reload & try again).
6 Don’t let your Planatars attack Melissan, they will go down much too fast. Keep them occupied with her summoned baddies and once in a while let them Heal themselves. Summon another if one perishes.
7 If you don’t mind being a coward (and in my opinion Wizards have the right to be just that) you may want to Skull Trap an area before combat with Sims and Project Images and try to lure Melissan into it.
If you use Skull Trap, always Protect yourself from Magical Energy, you will be immune that way (you may even cast that spell on the Planatars to keep them from being hurt by your Skulls and thus turning red on you).
As you may know, with the combination of Improved Alacrity (no time between spells) and Robe of Vecna you can cast low-casting-time-spells like Skulls and Lower Res’s immediately after one another.
The battle with the Fallen Solar and her companians was possibly even more difficult than Melissan herself was. I kept getting killed almost instantly the moment the Solar spotted me (spell immunity didn’t work. I think my saving throws were too low. if someone knows the exact reason please let me know). Then I discovered that the Solar, unlike Melissan, wasn’t immune to Time Stop, and in three consecutive Time-Stops (2 from scrolls) a wizard can do a lot of damage.
So: Just cast the next Time Stop right at the end of the previous Time Stop.
1 Load a Chain Contingency with 2 Lower Res’s and a Pierce Magic (See Enemy-Cast on Nearest Enemy)
2 Time Stop (from scroll), Improved Alacrity
3 Within the frozen time walk to the spot where the Solar is the ‘nearest enemy’, firing your ChainCont, Cast a trigger of Lower Res’s and Pierce Magic on Solar.
4 Cast 1 Lower Res on each Marileth (important to take them down). Don’t mind the Succubus and the Alu-Fiend.
5 Further lower the Solar’s magic resistance.
6 Cast Skull Traps and Wiltings right into the group during one or two Time Stops.
I also memorized & cast a second Improved Alacrity and loaded a new Chain Contingency from a scroll with three Wiltings. Mind that Improved Alacrity doesn’t work with casting from scrolls, so prevent wasting the short duration of the spell in that way.
With this strategy they should all be dead when the last Time Stop passes over, without even knowing what hit them.
The last fight in the Pocket Plane with the Ravager also proved to be a challenge. It seems to be immune to magic and it keeps summoning swords. Unable to breach its defenses for a full-scale magical attack, and not being able to use the Black Blade-Tenser combo (If I remember correctly he casts Remove Magic, leaving you Tensed without your Blade & unable to cast spells) and being pestered by them bone blades I had no other choice than to turn to the Wand of Cloudkill (ignores Magic Res) in combination with Energy Blades. With fifteen to twenty charges of the Wand and firing some 50 Energy Blades he was defeated. This only works if you summon a Planatar to take care of the summoned swords (A Death Spell doesn’t work on them) keeping himself Healed or out of reach of the Ravager. Mislead works very well in this battle because the Ravager can’t cast True Sight.